A TRIO of baby stingrays are settling in to their new home at Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire Oaks.

The southern stingrays were born earlier this year and are part of a successful captive breeding programme at Blue Planet’s sister aquarium in Newquay, Cornwall.

They were transported in special containers – complete with their own filtration and heating systems – before being released in the aquarium’s new open-top Coral Cave display.

Rebecca Goodwin of Blue Planet said: “Newquay’s Blue Reef Aquarium is one of the few places in the UK to have successfully bred this species of stingray in captivity and it’s great that we’ve been able to provide them with a fantastic new home.

“They’re incredibly graceful-looking fish and are settling in well to their new surroundings.

“It’s also a very proud moment for the team from Newquay to see the babies that they have been caring for since birth doing so well.

“Hopefully it won’t be too long before we’re able to start up our own breeding programme for the species here at Blue Planet.”

Southern stingrays have a gestation period of about six months. The eggs hatch within the mother’s body and the pups are born live folded up like a newspaper.